The First Attempt on the King's Life
On October 31, 1590, Mage Antonius Septimus (better known as The Enemy) attempted to kill King Sean in his castle within Cordoire, Duilintinn. This was The Enemy's first overt act of betrayal against King Sean and ended his time as a member of the court. Timeline of Events After the titling of Lord Jackie, Lord Marvin, and Lord Schneeplestein, The Enemy had spent years simmering with rage as he was snubbed for a noble title again and again. To add insult to injury, no noble lords were appointed in April 1590, ending any hope The Enemy might have had for receiving his long-overdue title. Enraged, he began to plot his revenge. The Enemy's anger did not go unnoticed by the rest of the court. Theories about why King Sean had not given the mage a title were a popular topic for the rumor mill, and the resulting drama was considered prime entertainment among bored government officials. As a result, any signs that The Enemy had finally snapped and was plotting to betray the king went almost completely overlooked amidst all of the gossip. Those who did notice were often too curious to intervene, completely underestimating how far The Enemy would go to get the power he felt he deserved. On the night of Hallows' Eve, when magic both good and evil are strongest, The Enemy used his strange, otherworldly powers to take control of the king's body as a puppet, attempting to force him to slit his own throat and proclaim Antonius as the true ruler of the land. This only partially succeeded. Overwhelmed by his own power, The Enemy was able to temporarily puppet King Sean's body, but as he slit the king's throat, the unnatural connection between the two souls caused The Enemy to perform a similar action upon his own body without realizing. He still gave the speech, but was forced to release the king's body and flee the castle without dealing the killing blow. Even so, the horrible power that held King Sean under The Enemy's control and the nasty cut to the neck left the king close to death. By some miracle, Lord Schneeplestein was in Cordoire at the time, and with the help of his doctors, he was able to save the king's life. Significance Unfortunately, the attack left King Sean with a strange illness, which plagues him with narcolepsy and psychotic episodes. We now know that this "illness" is likely a severe form of the Influence Curse. Meanwhile, The Enemy fled across Duilintinn into the Western Forest, where he recovered from the failed attack and began delving deeper into his dark powers. It is during this time that whatever magic or infection that afflicts his throat wound would have taken hold, preventing it from healing. For whatever reason, The Enemy never sought to remedy this issue and, to our knowledge, bleeds from his throat to this day. While The Enemy's feud with the king continued to ferment from now until October 1592, he had no plans to attack the people of Duilintinn at this point. After destroying the king and every lord who received a title before himself, The Enemy probably hoped to seize the kingdom for his own.